Charles Stanley - The Courage to Obey
To obey God is always the right thing to do, the wisest thing to do, but not always the easiest thing to do. And when you think about your life and what God requires of us, we all have to admit that sometime it's not the easiest. Sometimes we think, for example, our way's a better way, our way is an easier way, it's a less expensive way, there's less pain. And sometimes if you and I obey God, there'll be pain. There could be suffering. There could be rejection. There could be loss.
You say, "Well, why in the world do I want to obey God if all that could happen to me"? Here's the reason. Because He says whatever the circumstance, listen, our God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him and to those who are called according to His purpose. So God is in the business of blessing and guiding His children. But He's also in the business of encouraging us to be obedient to Him, because He knows that's the wisest thing we can do, the best thing we can do, the, listen, the smartest thing we can possibly do is be obedient to the principles of the Word of God.
This is a message entitled simply this: "The Courage To Obey". And the passage of scripture I want to turn to is a passage of scripture my mother gave me, upon preaching my first sermon, right before I went to preach it that evening, and I'm sure she could tell I was a little bit frightened, a little bit uneasy. She gave me this verse of scripture. Any time and every time in all these years (and I was about 17 or 18 then) from that time on, whatever I have faced in life, this verse has been the anchor, the rock, the one I always go back to and quote to myself over and over and over again, and also quote it to God, asking for His help and His guidance.
So if you'll turn to the Old Testament, to the book of Joshua and this very first chapter, I want us to read these first nine verses of this chapter together. And let's begin in verse one, a very important chapter, "Now it came about after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, that the LORD spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' servant, saying, 'Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all the people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory. No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will," listen to this, "for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.'"
Now, while this was God's message to Joshua, listen carefully. It is a message to us in the twenty-first century just as much, because the key to having a courageous, bold life of faith and prosperity, the right kind of prosperity and success is found in this passage of scripture. If you'll listen carefully and believe what you hear, God will change some things in your life that need to be changed that you probably thought couldn't be changed.
So let's take a few moments to look at the background of what's going on in Joshua's life at this point. Moses brought the children of Israel to the brink of the Promise Land forty years before. They had a problem, they had a faith failure. They sent twelve spies to look at the land. They came back and only two, Joshua and Caleb, were the ones who said, "We can take it". The rest of them said, "Oh no, because they have walled cities," and all the other excuses they gave.
Now, here is Joshua at the same place with the same proposition before him. How do you lead all these people into a Promised Land that God had given them, and where there are seven nations that they will have to fight in order to accomplish God's purpose for them here. So, when I look at that, I think about this. Why would Joshua need so much courage? Well, number one, he was stepping into the awesome shoes of Moses, who was like God to those people. He had been their leader from the beginning. He was stepping into these shoes. He was their leader.
That's one issue here that challenged him. A second was this: to lead those people into the Promised Land, which God had given them, and knowing there were walled cities. And their warriors were fierce warriors. And they had the problems of food and water and moving that many people into that land, it was seemingly an impossible task. But it wasn't impossible because God said to him, "Take courage, because you will lead them into the Promised Land". But I just want you to see these are all the things that could have caused him to be fearful. This is the reason God said to him three times, "Be strong and courageous, strong and courageous". And He said one time, "Be strong and very courageous," because He knew what he was going to be facing.
The challenges he would face, the idea of training those people to fight, the idea of showing them how to take care of themselves: food and water and clothing and all the things that that many people, maybe somewhere around a couple million people thereabouts, maybe less than that by now, many of them died off in the wilderness, but they had children. And so it would be like moving this huge mob of people into enemy territory. And compared to their enemy, they were really rather unprepared, except they were doing the will of God. So what happens? God knew that there would be discouraging times, but He said to him three times, "Be strong and of a good courage".
Now, listen carefully. If you are praying or reading the Word of God and God says something to you and you know that He's speaking to you, when you come back to Him again and He says the same thing, or you're reading the same passage or another passage and He says the same thing to you, watch this carefully, God doesn't repeat Himself because He's forgotten anything. He repeats Himself for our protection, for our wisdom, for our guidance. And so He said to him three times, "Be courageous," because He knew what he would face.
And so, the difficulty that he faced, we face difficulties. And I want to encourage you to see what God said to him specifically because I want you to look at all the promises, all the promises God gave Joshua. Now, why wouldn't He say it just one time, "Joshua, be strong and of a good courage," period. Three times He said it. One time He said, "Be careful to do according to what I tell you to do". Why did He say it? Because He knew that Joshua was human like anyone else, that he would be tempted, he'd be tried. And God was assuring him that He was with him.
So let's look at this passage. Go back to, if you will, verse three. Number one, verse three, "Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses". He doesn't say, "I might". He doesn't say, "If you fight well". He says, "I've already given it to you". Promise number one. "From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory". Speaking of the Mediterranean. Listen to this, another promise. "No man will be able to stand before you all the day of your life".
That is, stand against you successfully because God would be with him. "Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you, I will not fail you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them". A promise, "Only be strong and very courageous; careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; don't turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go".
You say, "Well, I'm just a homemaker". Well, let me ask you a question. Tell me a job any more difficult than being a godly wife and living with a husband and raising godly children in a society that is so absolutely ungodly. All of us have responsibilities. All of us have challenges in life. And listen to what He said, "This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night". For what reason? "So that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success".
Now, you say, "Well, how do I apply that to my life"? Well, it's just this simple. What does it mean to meditate upon the Word of God? It was the key to everything that happened in Joshua's life. To meditate upon the Word of God means you read it. Now, watch this carefully. You read it. You ask this question: What are You saying to me, God, in this passage of scripture?
You ask this question: Are You trying to say something to me about the way I'm living? Is there something You want me to do that I've missed? Is there somebody You want me to speak to? Is there something in my life that You want to bring to my attention that You want me to deal with? Is there some way in my life that You want to change, some habit in my life that You know about that You want to change? Lord, what are You saying to me?
And I guarantee you, He wants to make you the best person you can be. He wants to give you, He wants you to have the best character. He wants you to be a godly person. Listen, He wants, listen, He wants to prosper you. He wants to enable you to succeed at what you do in life. He wants you to have the character. He wants you to have the know-how. He wants you to be able to do your best at whatever you do. So, I'd ask you this question. Please don't answer this, it would hurt my feelings.
How many of you close your Bible on Sunday and open it the next Sunday? Please don't answer that. I would hope that not a single one of you do it. And I think most of you do read the scriptures. But here's what I want you to see. This is God who knows everything, saying to Joshua whom He loves, "Joshua, be careful, be careful that you meditate on it day and night".
It's easy to get off track. Because, listen, we're talking about this is the Word of God. This is the message of God. This is God personally talking to you through His Word. He knows all about your background. He knows all about your weaknesses, frailties. He knows all the things you're going to face in life. He knows what you need, what you want, what you think you want, what He knows you ought not to have. In other words, He knows what He wants to give you, how He wants to prosper you. He knows that more than anyone else in the world. He says, "Meditate on My Word day and night".
He knew that Joshua would need to keep coming back and seeing what God said in order to lead those people successfully. Well, let's just look at, as a father, as a dad, you need to be in the Word morning and evening. Whether you read a small passage, a long passage is up to you. How are you going to know how to be a godly father, a godly grandfather, godly mother, a godly son or daughter, if you, listen, if you're not having continuous conversation with God? And that's what it's all about, to meditate on His Word. Remember all the questions. God, what are You saying to me? What do I need to change? What do You want to alter in my life? What is the key to this courage? Meditating upon the Word.
So, now watch this, I want to give you a list of things that happen when you begin to meditate upon God's Word and see if this isn't what you would want in your life. Number one: the fruits of it. It quietens your spirit. When you're worried and you're fretting and you're discouraged and you want to go to a counselor, I'll tell you the best counselor in the world is called G-O-D, Almighty God, Jehovah God. And so what happens? Reading the Word quietens your spirit. Why do you think people when they're feeling terrible and troubled, they read, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want". And they can quote you that backwards and forwards. They've got verses in the scripture that quietens their spirit.
Secondly, it purifies our heart. When you read the Word of God, what God does, He says, for example, the Word of God is a, He says, "A lamp to my feet". That means He's going to show me the way. "A light to my path". He's going to show us things in our life that ought not to be there, and things that please Him that are in our life. So, it lightens our path.
And then, thirdly, for example, it sharpens our perception. When you get into the Word of God and you begin to meditate upon God's Word, you begin to understand things that you wouldn't understand otherwise. And here's what'll happen. You'll read a passage and you'll say, "Well, what does that word mean"? And you'll find out, and you'll think, "Well, where else does it say that in scripture"? And God will lead you to passage after passage. And what you will discover is that you, listen, you build this bank of promises. You have a promise bank. How many of you have a promise bank? Well, a few of you do. The rest of you are in bad shape. You don't have promise bank.
Listen to this, for example. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart; lean not to your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him; He will direct your path". That's in my promise bank. It ought to be in your promise bank because all of us need direction. He says, "I will teach you in the way you should go. I will guide you with my eye upon you". I need direction, and that's in my bank. And we could just go on and on and on, and my favorite promises and your favorite promises. What is He saying?
"This is the confidence that we have in Him; that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us; and if we know that He hears us, we know that we have the petition we desire of Him" in the bank. Now, if you don't read the Word of God, you don't have anything in the bank. Spiritually, you're empty. The best thing you can put in your bank is promises, promises, and, listen, in the bank that God has given you in your heart and your spirit. You fill that up with the promises of God and, listen, you're rich. You're wealthy. He'll show you how to prosper in the things that you need to prosper in.
Then of course, the next one is this, you know, we could have a sermon on each one of these, but clarifies our direction. That is, there are times in your life, you think, "God, what should I do? Should I buy this or should I not? Should I take this job or should I not? Shall I keep dating this young lady or should I not? Should I buy this car or should not"? In other words, God will give you clear direction what to do.
Then next of all, confirms or cautions our counsel. When you ask other people what you should do, be careful who you're asking. Be careful that they're giving you godly counsel because here's what most people do. They will do what they think will make you feel good. Well, that's not what you're looking for, you're looking for wisdom. The best place to go for wisdom is the Word of God. You'd be surprised how very specific the Word of God is in some areas when you're asking direction for it. Then of course, it increases our faith.
When you obey God, He blesses you in ways you hadn't been blessed before. And what happens? It builds your faith over a period of time. And when you think about the Word of God and, in fact, there's nothing, there's no faith-builder to match this. Here's what God said, here's what He does. Here's what God said, here's what He does. Here's how God warned us, here's what He does. Here's God's judgment because here's what He said He would do. Absolutely keeps His Word. It increases our faith.
And then of course, the last: He guides us to success. In other words, think about this. God doesn't want you to be a failure in anything you do. Watch this carefully. He doesn't want you to be a failure in anything you do. He may allow you to fail in order to teach you something He wants you to learn in order to be the success He wants you to be. So, all of us have had failures, so to speak, and disappointments in life and rejection and all the rest. But if you remember Romans 8:28, He turns it for good. And I look back in my own life and things that have happened, things that you would think that there's no way any good can come out of this. Every single time God turns it to good if we obey Him and just do what He says.
And I want to give you one last statement that I have over my desk, and I read it, probably not every single day but most days. In fact, I've got it up here. Look at this. When a man or a woman has the conviction that he or she is doing the work God gave him or her to do, there is a zeal and a courage in his or her soul that all the forces of this world cannot destroy. So the question is this. Are you doing what God has called you to do at this point in your life? Are you doing what God has called you to do? Or are you making choices in life and ignoring the Word of God.
Listen to what He said. He promises, He promises if you will meditate upon His Word, He will make your way prosperous. You will have good success. No matter what goes on, He will turn it for your good, if you're willing to obey Him. Remembering what we said in the very beginning, it is always wise to obey God, always, with no exception. And that's my prayer for you, that you'd be wise enough to obey Him, meditating upon His Word, following His direction, walking in obedience, and watching Him do His awesome work in your life.